Touring With Your Brompton

• Posted on 10 May 2024
• By Geoffrey Smith
• Posted in 12-speed, bicycle touring, Brompton, Radical Designs, urban bicycling
• 0

Touring with a Brompton 12-Speed not only makes sense -- it's a lot of fun!

The English made Brompton folding bicycle is by far the most compact and efficient urban bicycle in existence. Over 1 million have been hand-made over the last nearly 40 years. But did you know that it is also a very effective and sensible transportation choice for extended touring?

Imagine yourself on an extended tour or even a long day ride near by your community. You want to put some miles in for sure, but when you get to where you're going, you're also going to want to tour around. You may want to pop into a shop for some food or to take in a show. Maybe do some shopping at a specialty store or a bicycle shop you pass along the way. Wouldn't it be cool to have the world's smallest most efficient folding bike at your disposal? Simply fold it up and take it with you!

The ride quality of this 16-inch wheeled marvel is something to be appreciated. At 6'4" myself and 200 pounds, I find the folding Brompton to be exceptionally comfortable and enjoyable to ride over long distances. A combination of factors contribute to this... Flexible chrome-moly steel construction; The slack fork rake that absorbs road shock; The floating rear triangle with the elastomer shock absorber; The long flexible steel seat post; The frame geometry... All of these things and more contribute to an exceptionally comfortable ride over long distance.

Brompton recently introduced it's long-awaited 12-speed model in the Performance Line. This beautiful bike features titanium front fork and rear triangle, a four-speed cassette, and reliable and durable three-speed Sturmey-Archer hub. The 12 speeds are essentially non-overlapping for the most part, giving you 10 discrete gear choices for your travels. As the chart below shows, this range of gears closely matches that of any 700c wheel touring bike. The better to climb hills with!

Visit the store web page and schedule a demo ride soon! 

(click to enlarge)